By Mortz C. Ortigoza
Now that the government has indicted in the two Regional Trial Courts suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Bantag and his deputy security officer’s Superintendent Ricardo Zulueta for the double murder in Las Pinas City of scathing broadcaster Percy Lapid and at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa's jailbird Jun Villamor, we citizens would see how the Judges of the two courts appreciate the two Information/Resolutions of the national prosecution office. |
| SUSPENDED Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Bantag (seated, photo) is seen in one of the social activities he attended after the October 3, 2022 assassination of fire breathing radio commentator Percy Lapid. Bantag is being blamed on the murder of Lapid. |
Would they uphold them and issue a warrant of arrest for Bantag and Zulueta, seize them and locked them up in the calaboose and threw the key somewhere for the nonbailable heinous crimes they consummated? Or would they just zero on Zulueta and exonerate Bantag? Zulueta allegedly commanded Iwahig, Palawan prisoner Denver Mayores who ordered Alvin Labra, Aldrin Galicia and Christopher Peรฑaredonda — gang leaders at the NBP in Muntinlupa City - for the hit jobs of the broadcaster and Villamor. Villamor commissioned gunman Joel Escorial, Israel Dimaculangan, Edmond Dimaculangan, and an alias Orly. But Escorial after the cops arrested him - and with a promise for a witness protection program - rat on Villamor who was killed by those inmates I mentioned above after the news broke out that Escorial fingered Villamor.
These inmates who exposed Zulueta who ordered them to murder Villamor and Lapid have no direct evidence that Bantag was the principal by inducement.
It is another story for the trial proper in the RTC, the appeals of those accused - if convicted by the RTC - to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court where they would wait up to ten years of litigation as based on the previous similar cases.
Would the Judges in RTCs in Las Pinas and Muntinlupa issue a warrant of arrest to Bantag based on the arguments of the government in the Resolution?
It says there that Bantag anchored on circumstantial evidences had a hand as principal by inducement in the conspiracy for the abominable acts.
“The plan of the respondents to kill them both, including its execution, was shown by the evidence for the complainants. The prosecution notes that the death of Villamor was intertwined with the death of Percival (Lapid) and that the death of the former was used to cover up the death of the latter,” according to the March 9 resolution approved by Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento.
They said the prisoners’ sworn statements “show a clear and direct line of communication” from Bantag to Zulueta to Mayores, who communicated with gang leader Labra, who then coordinated with Galicia, who eventually orchestrated Mabasa’s killing “through his gang members and their contacts outside, ultimately ending with gunman Joel Escorial and his group.”
The DOJ and DILG also said the “money trail” described by the convicts matched the bank transaction of Escorial, who claimed the reward for the murder of Mabasa was P550,000.
In summing up the resolution, the national prosecution under the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that there was “sufficient circumstantial evidence has been presented to establish that he (Bantag) masterminded the assassination of (Mabasa).”
It cited Rule 133, Section 4 of the 2019 Revised Rules on Evidence which provides that circumstantial evidence is sufficient for conviction if: (a) there is more than one circumstance; (b) the facts from which the interferences derived are proven; and (c) the combination of all circumstances is such as to produce a conviction beyond reasonable doubt.
“[T]he motive of the murder was also sufficiently described — the two videos uploaded by Percival (Lapid) about respondent Bantag and showing the latter’s house with a number of vehicles parked in front. The DOJ noted that the timing of the videos and the commencement of the planning of Percival’s (Lapid) assassination is not coincidental,” it added.
These inmates who exposed Zulueta who ordered them to murder Villamor and Lapid have no direct evidence that Bantag was the principal by inducement.
Will the RTCs Issue the Warrant of Arrest to Bantag?
Remember, this is still part of the procedure on the evaluation of the Judge to either issue a warrant of arrest or dismiss the information/resolutions filed by the prosecutor.It is another story for the trial proper in the RTC, the appeals of those accused - if convicted by the RTC - to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court where they would wait up to ten years of litigation as based on the previous similar cases.
Would the Judges in RTCs in Las Pinas and Muntinlupa issue a warrant of arrest to Bantag based on the arguments of the government in the Resolution?
It says there that Bantag anchored on circumstantial evidences had a hand as principal by inducement in the conspiracy for the abominable acts.
“The plan of the respondents to kill them both, including its execution, was shown by the evidence for the complainants. The prosecution notes that the death of Villamor was intertwined with the death of Percival (Lapid) and that the death of the former was used to cover up the death of the latter,” according to the March 9 resolution approved by Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento.
They said the prisoners’ sworn statements “show a clear and direct line of communication” from Bantag to Zulueta to Mayores, who communicated with gang leader Labra, who then coordinated with Galicia, who eventually orchestrated Mabasa’s killing “through his gang members and their contacts outside, ultimately ending with gunman Joel Escorial and his group.”
The DOJ and DILG also said the “money trail” described by the convicts matched the bank transaction of Escorial, who claimed the reward for the murder of Mabasa was P550,000.
In summing up the resolution, the national prosecution under the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that there was “sufficient circumstantial evidence has been presented to establish that he (Bantag) masterminded the assassination of (Mabasa).”
It cited Rule 133, Section 4 of the 2019 Revised Rules on Evidence which provides that circumstantial evidence is sufficient for conviction if: (a) there is more than one circumstance; (b) the facts from which the interferences derived are proven; and (c) the combination of all circumstances is such as to produce a conviction beyond reasonable doubt.
“[T]he motive of the murder was also sufficiently described — the two videos uploaded by Percival (Lapid) about respondent Bantag and showing the latter’s house with a number of vehicles parked in front. The DOJ noted that the timing of the videos and the commencement of the planning of Percival’s (Lapid) assassination is not coincidental,” it added.
Trump Card of the “Swashbuckling” Bantag
The finding of the probable cause as it is being undertaken by the two judges on their evaluation of the information/resolution so they can issue a warrant of arrest against him is his Trump Card No. 1. The litigation in the RTC, Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the suspended BuCor Director General as based on the deftness of evidences of the national prosecution and how his defense lawyers controvert and rebut them will be a matter of appreciation based on the "proof beyond reasonable doubt" on the parts of the Judge and the Justices of the two appeal courts in case it reached there. It takes eight to ten years for the justices there to finally deal on the decision of the conviction in the RTC as seen on other previous similiar cases where the prisoner - who rots in the slammer - was seen eventually acquited because of the failure of the government to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. That's, salamabit, Trump Card No. 2.
Bantag probably know this legal shield against the accused as he was seen “swashbuckling” in some public affairs - as the DOJ and the national prosecution office were enmeshed to buttress their cases against him - confident that he could be exculpated because there is nothing to link him directly to the murders unless Zulueta exposes him.
READ MY OTHER BLOG:
The Lethal, Costly Weapons of a Cobra
MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA
I am a twenty years seasoned Op-Ed Political Writer in various newspapers and Blogger exposing government corruptions, public officials's idiocy and hypocrisies, and analyzing local and international issues. I have a master’s degree in Public Administration and professional government eligibility. I taught for a decade Political Science and Economics in universities in Metro Manila and cities of Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Dagupan. Follow me on Twitter @totoMortz or email me at totomortz@yahoo.com.
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